Be kind ⏪
July 25, 2016 8:17 AM Subscribe
The last VCR will be manufactured this month.
If you'd like to relive the design of simpler days, there's VAULT OF VHS.
If you'd like to keep your VCR in good shape, consult Samuel M. Goldwasser's Notes on the Troubleshooting and Repair of Video Cassette Recorders, Version 3.22b (7-Oct-10).
If you're determined to rid legacy formats from your life, consult Anarchivism's How to Rip VHS.
Previously in dead media: Betamax, VCR Games, Blockbuster, Marion Stokes,
If you'd like to relive the design of simpler days, there's VAULT OF VHS.
If you'd like to keep your VCR in good shape, consult Samuel M. Goldwasser's Notes on the Troubleshooting and Repair of Video Cassette Recorders, Version 3.22b (7-Oct-10).
If you're determined to rid legacy formats from your life, consult Anarchivism's How to Rip VHS.
Previously in dead media: Betamax, VCR Games, Blockbuster, Marion Stokes,
VHS on its last legs?, Jack Valenti.
Also, one of my favorite bits from Cowboy Bebop.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:22 AM on July 25, 2016 [10 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:22 AM on July 25, 2016 [10 favorites]
So they were still selling 750,000 players a year, mostly to China. Why stop? What's the break even point?
posted by lagomorphius at 8:23 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by lagomorphius at 8:23 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I guess I can finally throw out my mom's box of old Jane Fonda workout tapes. Considering my mom is 84 and the only exercise she gets is jumping to conclusions, I guess I could have thrown them out long ago, but now when she asks why, I can say there are no machines.
I do have a copy of my appearance on Wonderama (w/Bob McAllister) on a tape so should rip that.
posted by AugustWest at 8:24 AM on July 25, 2016 [9 favorites]
I do have a copy of my appearance on Wonderama (w/Bob McAllister) on a tape so should rip that.
posted by AugustWest at 8:24 AM on July 25, 2016 [9 favorites]
So they were still selling 750,000 players a year, mostly to China. Why stop?
posted by zamboni at 8:26 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]The company cites difficulty in obtaining the necessary parts as one of the reasons for halting production.
Love the title of this FPP.
posted by Annika Cicada at 8:27 AM on July 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Annika Cicada at 8:27 AM on July 25, 2016 [5 favorites]
Holy cow, TheWhiteSkull, that image is, as you say, perfect.
posted by Ickster at 8:29 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by Ickster at 8:29 AM on July 25, 2016
.
posted by drezdn at 8:32 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by drezdn at 8:32 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Do not buy Betamacks.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:42 AM on July 25, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:42 AM on July 25, 2016 [6 favorites]
I went looking for one of my favorite movie reviews just now only to find that the entire review site is gone and is even seemingly scrubbed from both Google and Archive.org (you can do that?). Anyway, the review was of the original "Dawn of the Dead", which the reviewer started by stating that everyone should go out and rent it.
Then he clarified: Everyone should go out and rent it. The ideal circumstances for viewing should be on a gnarly VHS tape that is scuffed on all the corners, plastered with stickers, and overall looks like it's been through... well... a zombie apocalypse.
This is what I think of when we say goodbye to VHS.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 8:45 AM on July 25, 2016 [12 favorites]
Then he clarified: Everyone should go out and rent it. The ideal circumstances for viewing should be on a gnarly VHS tape that is scuffed on all the corners, plastered with stickers, and overall looks like it's been through... well... a zombie apocalypse.
This is what I think of when we say goodbye to VHS.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 8:45 AM on July 25, 2016 [12 favorites]
We recently moved and found all the parts I needed to start digitizing my old VHS again -- a SVHS VCR I bought years ago with an SVideo out, a video-to-USB adapter, and a computer fast enough to run it. My parents had given me a box of videos from my childhood, like, twenty years ago, and they've been sitting in the attic. Every. Single. One. is full of movies, with either the Disney Channel or HBO "subscribe now!" across the bottom -- whenever the 'premium' channels had free weekends, they would religiously record everything they could. It's all available on Netflix or DVD now, so why would I keep it? If I'm lucky they still have a sticker on the end saying what's on the tape, but a lot lost the markings long ago.
However, I'm carefully fast-forwarding through every videotape, because one might start with A Muppet Family Christmas, but then suddenly jump, after 10 minutes, to a random Days of our Lives episode from 1986 with an hour of throwback commercials, news bumpers, channel IDs, etc, or a Max Headroom episode, or my sister's orchestra concert, or some random PBS show that probably hasn't re-aired in thirty years. It's like literal archaeology, sifting through the common, uninteresting bits to find something wildly random.
posted by AzraelBrown at 8:57 AM on July 25, 2016 [23 favorites]
However, I'm carefully fast-forwarding through every videotape, because one might start with A Muppet Family Christmas, but then suddenly jump, after 10 minutes, to a random Days of our Lives episode from 1986 with an hour of throwback commercials, news bumpers, channel IDs, etc, or a Max Headroom episode, or my sister's orchestra concert, or some random PBS show that probably hasn't re-aired in thirty years. It's like literal archaeology, sifting through the common, uninteresting bits to find something wildly random.
posted by AzraelBrown at 8:57 AM on July 25, 2016 [23 favorites]
Somewhere Randal Graves is crying softly.
posted by jonmc at 9:02 AM on July 25, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 9:02 AM on July 25, 2016 [7 favorites]
I'd be surprised it took this long if I hadn't lived in Japan 10 years ago and witnessed for myself that video stores were still roughly 50% VHS vs DVD. VHS had vanished from Blockbuster years before that back home. Did not see that coming; Japan was a couple years ahead of Canada on pretty much any technology I came across until I walked into Tsutaya. I guess people in Japan were less willing to make the switch for whatever reason.
posted by Hoopo at 9:02 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by Hoopo at 9:02 AM on July 25, 2016
I saw this on the weekend and showed it to my dad because to this day he brags about still owning (and using, I might add) the first vcr he ever bought, way back in 1984. It cost him $1000. He never fails to mention that.
posted by trigger at 9:04 AM on July 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by trigger at 9:04 AM on July 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
It's like literal archaeology, sifting through the common, uninteresting bits to find something wildly random.
I still have an old VHS tape that transitions from two Knight Rider episodes straight into Aliens and then right into Lethal Weapon 2. It's a nice hodge-podge of my childhood.
posted by Fizz at 9:04 AM on July 25, 2016 [9 favorites]
I still have an old VHS tape that transitions from two Knight Rider episodes straight into Aliens and then right into Lethal Weapon 2. It's a nice hodge-podge of my childhood.
posted by Fizz at 9:04 AM on July 25, 2016 [9 favorites]
My folks used to record all of the movies off HBO too. Three to a tape, usually. And because my dad is the utmost dork, he meticulously labelled each tape with the movie titles and a number. Then he made an index kept in a plastic folder with each movie listed alphabetically and the tape number it was on. Of course the tapes were arranged numerically in the drawers in our entertainment cabinet.
posted by misskaz at 9:13 AM on July 25, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by misskaz at 9:13 AM on July 25, 2016 [12 favorites]
And I'm still here with a busted Panasonic VCR and over 1500 tapes, including several films never released on DVD, etc. This is indeed a sad day for me. (Besides it being, like, 300 degrees in the NYC area),
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 9:17 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 9:17 AM on July 25, 2016
[o_o]
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:19 AM on July 25, 2016 [20 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:19 AM on July 25, 2016 [20 favorites]
My parents still have an ancient tape of me on It's Academic back in the day, which I always intended to get ripped. However, it's on Betamax so I doubt even professional ripping services would take it now. Oh, well! Lost to the ages!
posted by tavella at 9:20 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by tavella at 9:20 AM on July 25, 2016
Watching Amazing New Technology (which the VCR certainly once was) turn into garbage is always instructive. A couple of years ago I needed to digitize some audio cassettes, and I could barely find a tape deck. There were none in the local thrift shops; they had, years before, all been donated and dispersed to the landfills and back bedrooms of the world. People are going to think it was unbelievably corny that everyone was so into smartphones, one day.
posted by thelonius at 9:22 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 9:22 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I come to bury VHS, not to praise it.
But, since we're burying it, let's at least give it an Irish wake. Enjoy the wet lunch!
posted by Nanukthedog at 9:22 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
But, since we're burying it, let's at least give it an Irish wake. Enjoy the wet lunch!
posted by Nanukthedog at 9:22 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Scheduled to roll off the line at exactly
(Just imagine that "12:00" is blinking)
posted by hal9k at 9:27 AM on July 25, 2016 [22 favorites]
(Just imagine that "12:00" is blinking)
posted by hal9k at 9:27 AM on July 25, 2016 [22 favorites]
They stopped making CRTs some time ago as well, so if you've got a TV-VCR combo, that will be worth its weight in gold after the End Times come.
posted by griphus at 9:28 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by griphus at 9:28 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
...the first vcr he ever bought, way back in 1984. It cost him $1000.
I remember when my parents got their first VCR, probably around that same time-- it was Christmas, and they were out shopping with Grandma and Grandpa, because Gma & Gpa were going to pay for the VCR. They finally settled on a $600 one; in today's money, that's like $1,300. Looking back, I can't imagine spending that much money, and it explains why there was so much hemming and hawing over getting the right one: VCRs were the thing then, but for that much money you didn't want to make a mistake. I think I only spent $900 on my first computer in college, only 6 or 7 years later, and that still blows my mind. We don't realize how good we have it now, with electronics so cheap across the board, but I suppose there will come a day when people scoff at what we pay for cellphones today.
(speaking of having our own VCR: back in the day, you could rent VCRs from the video store -- I remember a lot of dubbing going on then, too: rent a bunch of movies and a VCR, watch them while our own VCR is recording it, then you get to keep the copy and return the original)
posted by AzraelBrown at 9:30 AM on July 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
I remember when my parents got their first VCR, probably around that same time-- it was Christmas, and they were out shopping with Grandma and Grandpa, because Gma & Gpa were going to pay for the VCR. They finally settled on a $600 one; in today's money, that's like $1,300. Looking back, I can't imagine spending that much money, and it explains why there was so much hemming and hawing over getting the right one: VCRs were the thing then, but for that much money you didn't want to make a mistake. I think I only spent $900 on my first computer in college, only 6 or 7 years later, and that still blows my mind. We don't realize how good we have it now, with electronics so cheap across the board, but I suppose there will come a day when people scoff at what we pay for cellphones today.
(speaking of having our own VCR: back in the day, you could rent VCRs from the video store -- I remember a lot of dubbing going on then, too: rent a bunch of movies and a VCR, watch them while our own VCR is recording it, then you get to keep the copy and return the original)
posted by AzraelBrown at 9:30 AM on July 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
oh man I just remembered my grandmother had a VCR in the Soviet Union. I distinctly remember watching a bunch of 40s-era Mickey Mouse shorts and also Empire Strikes Back.
posted by griphus at 9:34 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 9:34 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Soon to follow ..... DVD players. A lot of landfill to occupy with what goes in those.
posted by blucevalo at 9:42 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by blucevalo at 9:42 AM on July 25, 2016
It's a bit passe at this point, but the grainy aesthetic of the screen, the film, and the box art of VHS viewing is making a nostalgic comeback: e.g and e.g..
posted by codacorolla at 9:47 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by codacorolla at 9:47 AM on July 25, 2016
For some reason, I was a little surprised when I read that there were already people collecting VHS tapes and customizing their VCRs.
I've got a handful of tapes I won't get rid of, including pretty complete Andy Kaufman and Ernie Kovaks collections, plus a few hard to find things. I should probably do a health check on my VCR.
(I am now reminded that I also have a box of really disturbing looking porn on VHS that some asshole left at my house, which raises logistical issues with disposal. I should get on that.)
posted by ernielundquist at 10:00 AM on July 25, 2016
I've got a handful of tapes I won't get rid of, including pretty complete Andy Kaufman and Ernie Kovaks collections, plus a few hard to find things. I should probably do a health check on my VCR.
(I am now reminded that I also have a box of really disturbing looking porn on VHS that some asshole left at my house, which raises logistical issues with disposal. I should get on that.)
posted by ernielundquist at 10:00 AM on July 25, 2016
Soon to follow ..... DVD players. A lot of landfill to occupy with what goes in those.
*ahem*
posted by Fizz at 10:05 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
*ahem*
posted by Fizz at 10:05 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
The article mentions using a VHS rewinder when your VCR's rewinder is broken... but I mainly remember using them to rewind tapes while watching other tapes to ensure an unbroken stream of video.
posted by scose at 10:09 AM on July 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by scose at 10:09 AM on July 25, 2016 [4 favorites]
That Stranger Things mockup needs some colour fading (cyan lives forever, magenta fades quickly) and a couple of half-torn strip-style pre-RFID tags hanging off the front to be perfect.
posted by scruss at 10:25 AM on July 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by scruss at 10:25 AM on July 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
⏹
posted by qntm at 10:31 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by qntm at 10:31 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
My parents told me the VHS rewinder was somehow better for the tapes and VCR. Something about the read heads. Probably true for seeking rewind, but I bet it didn't matter on most players for when you pressed stop and then rewound (where the head would presumably disengage).
posted by mccarty.tim at 10:44 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by mccarty.tim at 10:44 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Everyone should go out and rent it.
I'm sure there will be VHS purists in the near future (if not already), the same way there are vinyl purists. Funny how the lossy, cheap recording methods of their day become the some of the more beloved. Digital just won't be the same.
The same of is true with antiques. It's not the higher-end pieces that are so sought after, it's the cheap ones that were disposable ephemera. But now they're mostly gone, thrown away, and so rare and valuable to the right people.
posted by bonehead at 10:45 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm sure there will be VHS purists in the near future (if not already), the same way there are vinyl purists. Funny how the lossy, cheap recording methods of their day become the some of the more beloved. Digital just won't be the same.
The same of is true with antiques. It's not the higher-end pieces that are so sought after, it's the cheap ones that were disposable ephemera. But now they're mostly gone, thrown away, and so rare and valuable to the right people.
posted by bonehead at 10:45 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I was watching a stray episode of Adventure Time the other day and vital plot information was stored on a VHS tape which had been recorded over in places by Naked Jake Sexytimes in front of the fire. I did wonder if that concept of recording-over would even make sense to people raised on digital cameras and smartphones.I went through a phase of setting the video for late night Chinese or Japanese films on Channel 4 back in the '90s and there are a fair few which still aren't commercially available here in subbed form. Probably not as many as I taped over though *sob*
Like grains of sand....
posted by comealongpole at 10:47 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Like grains of sand....
posted by comealongpole at 10:47 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Do not buy Betamacks.
I never buy a Beta Mac. I always wait for the first revision.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:49 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I never buy a Beta Mac. I always wait for the first revision.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:49 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
In the synthwave community (and its many sibling genres) it's trendy to sell new albums on cassette tapes. I think it's part nostalgia, and also partly using the media to frame the work in the period analog synths were at their peak.
Also, Tim and Eric recorded "Awesome Show Great Job" on VHS before sending it to Adult Swim. But again, a case of wanting to get into the aesthetic of low-fi video production.
posted by mccarty.tim at 10:53 AM on July 25, 2016
Also, Tim and Eric recorded "Awesome Show Great Job" on VHS before sending it to Adult Swim. But again, a case of wanting to get into the aesthetic of low-fi video production.
posted by mccarty.tim at 10:53 AM on July 25, 2016
I'm sure there will be VHS purists in the near future (if not already), the same way there are vinyl purists. Funny how the lossy, cheap recording methods of their day become the some of the more beloved. Digital just won't be the same.
I'm really torn on this. I love how clear and perfect digital video is, but the motion artifacts really, really bug me.
posted by Dr. Twist at 10:54 AM on July 25, 2016
I'm really torn on this. I love how clear and perfect digital video is, but the motion artifacts really, really bug me.
posted by Dr. Twist at 10:54 AM on July 25, 2016
My dad has a collection of Adam West Batman and Looney Tunes that he recorded off of cable television for his potential future child. I think the level of effort that went into homemade VHS tapes, and having to organize and document their contents, is a level of dedication to media that a digital collection can't surpass.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 10:54 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by enjoymoreradio at 10:54 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
VHS is like the ghost of my childhood. I had an endless supply of tape. Somewhere there is a cubic yard of old Doctor Whos, Star Trek, raunchy '80s movies, James Bond, Planet of the Apes, Twilight Zones, Monty Python, Blakes 7, Wide world of Sports, etcetera.
It's a crying shame that they're entirely unwatchable on my HD.
So my parents told me I'd be the executor of their will. The only thing I insisted on was the old wood-grained Betamax and the Star Trek tapes. I'll go to Goodwill and by a tube if I have to.
posted by Sphinx at 10:54 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's a crying shame that they're entirely unwatchable on my HD.
So my parents told me I'd be the executor of their will. The only thing I insisted on was the old wood-grained Betamax and the Star Trek tapes. I'll go to Goodwill and by a tube if I have to.
posted by Sphinx at 10:54 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Analog has infinite resolution.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:55 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by blue_beetle at 10:55 AM on July 25, 2016
Unfortunately, this is a medium I don't think will be ever making a comeback with commercial appeal.
Turntables are simple pieces of tech - a motor to move the platter, an arm with a needle to read the grooves and a magnetic cartridge to convert it to sound. Even audiotapes are simpler: an motor to pull the reel, a magnetic head to read the tape, and that's mostly it. A VCR has so many moving parts I doubt it will ever be profitable to see cheapo VHS players on the market in a few years on electronics superstores and mail order catalogues. Fortunately there are so many of them around the supply might last some time. It helps the people into it won't even care that much about "fidelity" - as long as it doesn't chews down tape and gives a (very variable definition of) decent image, it will be all right. Unlike audiophiles arguing about warmth and $4000 cables to get most of the supposed superior qualities of vinyl over digital, the analog appeal of VHS is mostly aesthetic - you can argue some movies are best seen properly with a shitty CRT with an equally shitty VCR and shitty beer for the trifecta, but nobody is going to argue a properly mastered Blu-Ray of Jurassic Park is technically worse than my pan-and-scan (I think) VHS tape.
That said, I had one, from the early 90s (this one, I'm pretty sure). I still want to buy one, although stores are still charging somewhat ridiculous prices for them (last I've checked, €45 for one with no guarantee it would work is not only illegal, but extremely pricey - I got a Sony audio cassete recorder for €5 because I didn't care if it was working at that level). Not because of the movies bought or taped from TV, or the Monty Python episodes (*taps the gloriously fabulous, ludicrously definitive outrageously luxurious DVD boxset*). It's the ads, the football game highlights, the mega drive sessions taped, the newscasts and so on. The stuff that was lost to time, not what's available at Amazon or Netflix or PirateBay. Also, retroing. I wanted to do some videoclips for my shit, although I also want them to be in gloriously shitty VHS quality.
but I suppose there will come a day when people scoff at what we pay for cellphones today
a day? I scoof at people who buy $500 android phones just to talk/text and facebook or listen to music on them and play Angry Birds. Other than limited internal memory (which will always be the problem with low-end droids), I haven't found anything I wanted but couldn't do with my €85 Vodafone-branded Alcatel.
I did wonder if that concept of recording-over would even make sense to people raised on digital cameras and smartphones.
For some reason, I watched Road Trip last week. After 30 minutes, I've sent an email to a friend saying that this was a movie that wouldn't hold it's premise in 2016.
posted by lmfsilva at 11:00 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Turntables are simple pieces of tech - a motor to move the platter, an arm with a needle to read the grooves and a magnetic cartridge to convert it to sound. Even audiotapes are simpler: an motor to pull the reel, a magnetic head to read the tape, and that's mostly it. A VCR has so many moving parts I doubt it will ever be profitable to see cheapo VHS players on the market in a few years on electronics superstores and mail order catalogues. Fortunately there are so many of them around the supply might last some time. It helps the people into it won't even care that much about "fidelity" - as long as it doesn't chews down tape and gives a (very variable definition of) decent image, it will be all right. Unlike audiophiles arguing about warmth and $4000 cables to get most of the supposed superior qualities of vinyl over digital, the analog appeal of VHS is mostly aesthetic - you can argue some movies are best seen properly with a shitty CRT with an equally shitty VCR and shitty beer for the trifecta, but nobody is going to argue a properly mastered Blu-Ray of Jurassic Park is technically worse than my pan-and-scan (I think) VHS tape.
That said, I had one, from the early 90s (this one, I'm pretty sure). I still want to buy one, although stores are still charging somewhat ridiculous prices for them (last I've checked, €45 for one with no guarantee it would work is not only illegal, but extremely pricey - I got a Sony audio cassete recorder for €5 because I didn't care if it was working at that level). Not because of the movies bought or taped from TV, or the Monty Python episodes (*taps the gloriously fabulous, ludicrously definitive outrageously luxurious DVD boxset*). It's the ads, the football game highlights, the mega drive sessions taped, the newscasts and so on. The stuff that was lost to time, not what's available at Amazon or Netflix or PirateBay. Also, retroing. I wanted to do some videoclips for my shit, although I also want them to be in gloriously shitty VHS quality.
but I suppose there will come a day when people scoff at what we pay for cellphones today
a day? I scoof at people who buy $500 android phones just to talk/text and facebook or listen to music on them and play Angry Birds. Other than limited internal memory (which will always be the problem with low-end droids), I haven't found anything I wanted but couldn't do with my €85 Vodafone-branded Alcatel.
I did wonder if that concept of recording-over would even make sense to people raised on digital cameras and smartphones.
For some reason, I watched Road Trip last week. After 30 minutes, I've sent an email to a friend saying that this was a movie that wouldn't hold it's premise in 2016.
posted by lmfsilva at 11:00 AM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I recall reading about semi-insane programmers making digital video filters to turn digital video into that of an aging VHS tape. Some of the implementations even involved 3d-rendering the tape folding over itself or getting stretched over the read head.
I can't seem to find it, though. Which means someone needs to make a transistor-level identical VCR in minecraft or similar VR-zone.
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:02 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I can't seem to find it, though. Which means someone needs to make a transistor-level identical VCR in minecraft or similar VR-zone.
posted by mccarty.tim at 11:02 AM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
My parents told me the VHS rewinder was somehow better for the tapes and VCR.
my father's explanation to me was it saved wear and tear on the (more expensive) motors in the VCR. Which considering the VCR he bought in 1985 is still working and in regular use today might have had something to it.
posted by Dr. Twist at 11:05 AM on July 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
my father's explanation to me was it saved wear and tear on the (more expensive) motors in the VCR. Which considering the VCR he bought in 1985 is still working and in regular use today might have had something to it.
posted by Dr. Twist at 11:05 AM on July 25, 2016 [3 favorites]
I really should get rid of my tapes. But, I have the Star Wars trilogy, the Muppet Show, and Eyes on the Prize, all of which have been terribly compromised in newer releases. Argh, what to do...
posted by Melismata at 11:57 AM on July 25, 2016
posted by Melismata at 11:57 AM on July 25, 2016
...the first vcr he ever bought, way back in 1984. It cost him $1000.
The march of technology is fascinating. I was a young teen when the first electronic calculators started reaching consumers. All they did was add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and they cost well over $100 (something like $600 in today's money). My friend's dad had one; it lived in its original bubble-wrap sleeve and could only be used with his dad's direct supervision. By the time I was in high school, I could get a TI-30 (with all sorts of trig and log functions, memory, and I don't remember what-all else) for around $25. A few years after that calc functions were getting built into cheap digital watches, and then they just about starting giving them away in, I don't know, $2 key fobs and such.
Then everything started over with personal computers, and now you can buy a pocket-sized one for way less that what the IBM PC-XT used to cost.
People are going to think it was unbelievably corny that everyone was so into smartphones, one day.
Indeed, 'round and 'round we go...
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:05 PM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
The march of technology is fascinating. I was a young teen when the first electronic calculators started reaching consumers. All they did was add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and they cost well over $100 (something like $600 in today's money). My friend's dad had one; it lived in its original bubble-wrap sleeve and could only be used with his dad's direct supervision. By the time I was in high school, I could get a TI-30 (with all sorts of trig and log functions, memory, and I don't remember what-all else) for around $25. A few years after that calc functions were getting built into cheap digital watches, and then they just about starting giving them away in, I don't know, $2 key fobs and such.
Then everything started over with personal computers, and now you can buy a pocket-sized one for way less that what the IBM PC-XT used to cost.
People are going to think it was unbelievably corny that everyone was so into smartphones, one day.
Indeed, 'round and 'round we go...
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:05 PM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I think my dad is still proudly displaying Sony beta max player in the media cabinet at home. And the vhs players. And the combo DVD vhs player. And the multiple DVD players.
My dad is a hoarder is what I'm saying.
posted by Karaage at 12:15 PM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
My dad is a hoarder is what I'm saying.
posted by Karaage at 12:15 PM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I still have 2 working VCRs in the house. They get used once in a while. I might pick up a stray tape or two at yard sales for a quarter. A Dirty Harry tape was probably the most recent thing I played. My first VCR from the '80s only gave out about a decade ago.
>I'm sure there will be VHS purists in the near future (if not already), the same way there are vinyl purists. Funny how the lossy, cheap recording methods of their day become the some of the more beloved. Digital just won't be the same.
I remember reading once that some audiophiles recommended recording audio material on VHS because it had better fidelity than cassette.
>Analog has infinite resolution.
Noise and inaccurate tracking will likely more than obliterate any improvement you'd get over digital recording.
>The last VCR will be manufactured this month.
Someday long after we're gone, intelligent roaches will develop video technology. There will be VCRs again. Maybe they will choose Betamax instead.
posted by DarkForest at 12:17 PM on July 25, 2016
>I'm sure there will be VHS purists in the near future (if not already), the same way there are vinyl purists. Funny how the lossy, cheap recording methods of their day become the some of the more beloved. Digital just won't be the same.
I remember reading once that some audiophiles recommended recording audio material on VHS because it had better fidelity than cassette.
>Analog has infinite resolution.
Noise and inaccurate tracking will likely more than obliterate any improvement you'd get over digital recording.
>The last VCR will be manufactured this month.
Someday long after we're gone, intelligent roaches will develop video technology. There will be VCRs again. Maybe they will choose Betamax instead.
posted by DarkForest at 12:17 PM on July 25, 2016
My folks used to record all of the movies off HBO too. Three to a tape, usually. And because my dad is the utmost dork, he meticulously labelled each tape with the movie titles and a number. Then he made an index kept in a plastic folder with each movie listed alphabetically and the tape number it was on. Of course the tapes were arranged numerically in the drawers in our entertainment cabinet.
Take out the paper index and this is what my dad did, too. We also had temporary tapes that we used to do things like tape TV shows to watch later but not to keep forever. (The way we use our DVRs today!) I loved to tape videos from MTV too - somewhere at my parents' house I still have collections of those videos.
posted by SisterHavana at 12:18 PM on July 25, 2016
This guy/meme is gonna get riiiiiich once we enter the new regime.
posted by Zerowensboring at 12:25 PM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Zerowensboring at 12:25 PM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's a crying shame that they're entirely unwatchable on my HD.
I have one of these AV to HDMI converters† and it actually works really well. The kids use it to hook up old non-HDMI video games to the TV.
†That's the exact one I have but is sold out, but it's a chinese knockoff that is distributed under many different names, they're all about $15ea if you look around.
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:48 PM on July 25, 2016
I have one of these AV to HDMI converters† and it actually works really well. The kids use it to hook up old non-HDMI video games to the TV.
†That's the exact one I have but is sold out, but it's a chinese knockoff that is distributed under many different names, they're all about $15ea if you look around.
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:48 PM on July 25, 2016
Analog has infinite resolution.
Someone needs to read up on their information theory.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 1:46 PM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Someone needs to read up on their information theory.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 1:46 PM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Someone needs to read up on their information theory
and their string theory.
posted by Zerowensboring at 2:30 PM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
and their string theory.
posted by Zerowensboring at 2:30 PM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
The Secret Life of Machines had a good episode on the video recorder .
posted by Kiwi at 2:54 PM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Kiwi at 2:54 PM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Fond memories of coming home from midnight shifts at the paper mill, firing up the VCR to watch the Letterman episode I'd recorded using the timer.
posted by davebush at 4:32 PM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by davebush at 4:32 PM on July 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
I always find it interesting when people buy a piece of hardware that meets their needs and then don't upgrade as technology improves. A high school teacher of mine around 1983 was still using either a Casio AL-1000 or a close facsimile to compute grades. First time I remember seeing nixie tubes. Probably paid a crazy amount of money for it in the 60s and it was still working fine so why replace it? Except for it taking up like a fifth of his desk.
tavella: "My parents still have an ancient tape of me on It's Academic back in the day, which I always intended to get ripped. However, it's on Betamax so I doubt even professional ripping services would take it now. Oh, well! Lost to the ages!"
There are at least two places in my small city who do betamax transfers (and 8/16mm, VHS, VHS-C, Hi8, MiniDV). Don't know if they do it in house or send it out but either way if you want this video there are places doing the transfer. Heck Costco offers betamax transfer.
posted by Mitheral at 5:10 PM on July 25, 2016
tavella: "My parents still have an ancient tape of me on It's Academic back in the day, which I always intended to get ripped. However, it's on Betamax so I doubt even professional ripping services would take it now. Oh, well! Lost to the ages!"
There are at least two places in my small city who do betamax transfers (and 8/16mm, VHS, VHS-C, Hi8, MiniDV). Don't know if they do it in house or send it out but either way if you want this video there are places doing the transfer. Heck Costco offers betamax transfer.
posted by Mitheral at 5:10 PM on July 25, 2016
Melismata: I really should get rid of my tapes. But, I have the Star Wars trilogy,
DO NOT GET RID OF YOUR TAPES
posted by tzikeh at 6:06 PM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
DO NOT GET RID OF YOUR TAPES
posted by tzikeh at 6:06 PM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
Has "Flight of Dragons" finally come out on anything but VHS? It's one of my favorite childhood movies. Can't believe it hasn't been re released yet.
posted by one4themoment at 6:31 PM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by one4themoment at 6:31 PM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
VHS has become a favored medium for a certain breed of artist. Some vaporwave musicians are putting their albums on VHS. I received and reviewed one, with a few clips in case you want to see what it's like.
There's also Art of the Glitch, who release art VHS tape projects, like Night of the Living Glitch. Very trippy!
Finally, I know one experimental video artist, Fornax Void, who has a special VHS tape project that has some very cool original footage on it.
posted by clockworkjoe at 10:52 PM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
There's also Art of the Glitch, who release art VHS tape projects, like Night of the Living Glitch. Very trippy!
Finally, I know one experimental video artist, Fornax Void, who has a special VHS tape project that has some very cool original footage on it.
posted by clockworkjoe at 10:52 PM on July 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
My first job was in the family business, which was TV and later VCR/camcorder repair. I loved the mid 1980s models - four screws and the whole cover came off. A minimum of gears and idlers to replace and I could have a unit back up to spec in 30 minutes, including a spit shine.
The ones that made me groan inside were the top loading behemoths that had been over engineered and weighed about 20 pounds. Screws for the top, sides, bottom, and if the repair had been done by a senior tech, the front plates with the labels for the damn buttons were off as well. My job was to do the cleaning inside and out, replacing belts, pulleys, cleaning those ever so fragile heads, and then testing every single function: play, record, search, ff, rw, and timed recording. Then I could put it back together.
When my kids were teeny, I had to cancel the cable to save money. Before I did, I got a stack of 8 hour tapes and recorded as much Noggin as I possibly could, then played it for them ad nauseum on my combo CRT unit. This was especially useful after the demise of regular broadcast TV. They also enjoyed the hours and hours of Cartoon Planet and Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
Sadly, most of that was lost to squirrel pee after a move. ・⌒・
posted by lysdexic at 9:00 AM on July 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
The ones that made me groan inside were the top loading behemoths that had been over engineered and weighed about 20 pounds. Screws for the top, sides, bottom, and if the repair had been done by a senior tech, the front plates with the labels for the damn buttons were off as well. My job was to do the cleaning inside and out, replacing belts, pulleys, cleaning those ever so fragile heads, and then testing every single function: play, record, search, ff, rw, and timed recording. Then I could put it back together.
When my kids were teeny, I had to cancel the cable to save money. Before I did, I got a stack of 8 hour tapes and recorded as much Noggin as I possibly could, then played it for them ad nauseum on my combo CRT unit. This was especially useful after the demise of regular broadcast TV. They also enjoyed the hours and hours of Cartoon Planet and Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
Sadly, most of that was lost to squirrel pee after a move. ・⌒・
posted by lysdexic at 9:00 AM on July 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
I just committed a large box of VHS tapes to landfill. I tried selling them off at a couple of garage sales but there was no interest in them and I got tired of hauling them around any more. I did keep a couple just for nostalgic purposes because they had content on them I don't know if I'd ever be able to locate again (e.g. a segment of National Geographic Explorer on some old-skool volcanologists doing really dumb shit by live volcanoes in the name of "science.")
Anyhoots, my advice to anyone who wants to maintain VHS playback capability is to buy a used industrial quality machine rather than a consumer unit. Even better, get a broadcast quality unit. These things were built like tanks and will likely continue to work (and/or remain serviceable) long after home units have given up the ghost. eBay is an excellent source.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 11:10 AM on July 26, 2016
Anyhoots, my advice to anyone who wants to maintain VHS playback capability is to buy a used industrial quality machine rather than a consumer unit. Even better, get a broadcast quality unit. These things were built like tanks and will likely continue to work (and/or remain serviceable) long after home units have given up the ghost. eBay is an excellent source.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 11:10 AM on July 26, 2016
« Older Australia's Guantanamo for Children | Dunes Cantina Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:20 AM on July 25, 2016 [22 favorites]